Friday, 19 August 2011

It's amazing how quickly the house dries out once the roof is on but we'll just have to wait and see how the plaster holds up to see if it really was left long enough...

Anyway, they've started rendering which is making a huge difference in the size of the rooms (to my perception, at least). Here's Peter in the boys' lounge (otherwise known as the games room) checking that all the power/data points are in the correct places:and one looking down the second hallway towards the boys' rooms with my fantabulous soon-to-be linen cupboard on the left:

and one of Andrew's room with his You-must-buy-me-more-clothes-immediately-to-fill-this-robe on the right:With the rendering started, it won't be long until the plastering starts. Hopefully then the boys will be able to see that their rooms aren't shoeboxes and are actually a decent size. I think they're hoping that part happens soon 'cos they're sick of hearing "When I was your age, I had to share a room with your aunty and boy, was she messy!"

Thursday, 18 August 2011

Seeing as nothing much is happening on the building front (due to waiting for everything to dry out before the plasterers can start), I thought I'd start throwing out some ideas for finishing off the house.

Bear in mind these are only ideas at the moment and depending on numerous factors, most important of which is the bank balance, they may not come to fruition for quite some time ... or even at all.

We have decided to tile the majority of the house, as most people seem to do these days. Thankfully the days of having carpet in hallways and other traffic areas are well and truly over at least as far as we're concerned!

Despite our many discussions over the colours of the wet area tiles, we managed to agree fairly quickly on a living area tile called National Banur Latte. Initially I did think it was way too dark but I have warmed to it. In the photo on the retailer's website, it appears very grey but in real life, it is actually a very pleasant mix of creams/beiges and greys so it appeals to both of us. It has a matte finish so it's a lot less slippery than the high gloss versions and has the added bonus of being easier to keep clean.

Speaking of keeping things clean, I had the idea that it would be easier to keep the bottom of the WIR in the master bedroom cleaner if it was tiled. After broaching the subject with husband dearest, he has agreed to tile the floor in there with the same floor tile as the ensuite(Waringa Stone Grey) to tie them together if both the doors happen to be open at the same time. I've not actually seen it done anywhere that I can remember but I figured it would be heaps easier to be able to see the dust that needs vacuuming up instead of having it all just add to the height of the carpet.

And while on the topic of wardrobes in bedrooms, I also think it would make for a lot less dust and dirt accumulation if I were to put tiles or vinyl in the bottom of the boys' built-in-robes as well. The carpet in their rooms will be laid properly to the front of the robes as there is a track for the sliding doors, so having something different in the bottom shouldn't interfere with the carpet or the doors.

To be perfectly honest, I've been thinking about just painting the boys' floors with paving paint when we move in so that whatever carpet we (eventually) get doesn't get wrecked with all the extra sand flying around until we get the backyard finished. They've been rather non-committal about the idea whenever I've raised it in the past, but they are teenage boys so maybe expecting a complete sentence favouring one option over another was dreaming just a little bit.

Anyway enough thinking for now. I'd better get back to work and earn some money to pay for all this thinking I've been doing. Never realised how expensive thinking was ... and dangerous too! One thing keeps leading to another ... and another ... and another ... and another!

What do you think of the ideas I've come up with so far? Tiles in the wardrobes sound stupid to you? Can you think of any other options? I need help people ... and not just the kind you're thinking of! :P